EU Rejects Johnson’s Bid To Reopen Divorce Deal

The EU rejected Boris Johnson’s demand that the Irish border backstop needs to be scrapped after the U.K. “absolute commitment” to leaving the bloc on Oct. 31. Johnson, who hopes Brussels will rethink its refusal to renegotiate the Brexit deal struck by Theresa May, was additionally instructed that is unimaginable. “The prime minister reiterated that he needs a deal, and might be energetic in pursuit of discovering a means ahead, but said the Withdrawal Agreement has been rejected three times by the U.K. Parliament and won’t go in its present kind,” the readout mentioned.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker informed Boris Johnson the Withdrawal Agreement is the “best and only agreement attainable,” the Press Association cited a fee spokeswoman as saying. The commission is on the market for talks with the U.K. Johnson and Juncker exchanged telephone numbers and agreed to stay in touch, according to the report. Boris Johnson will converse to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker by cellphone on Thursday afternoon, his office stated.

Commenting on Michel Barnier’s response to Johnson’s speech (see 3:15 p.m.), Prime Minister’s Spokesman James Slack said the U.K.’s new technique is at a really early stage. “It’s day one,” Slack told reporters. Johnson’s give attention to no-deal preparations is partly meant “to heap strain on the unity of the EU27,” Barnier wrote in an e-mail seen by Bloomberg. The EU should prepare for all situations, he stated. Barnier also hinted on the prospect of a snap election in the U.K.: “I observe additionally the various sturdy reactions to the speech in the House of Commons,” he said in his message.

“Without the backstop there is no withdrawal settlement,” Varadkar said. “There’s no transition phase, there’s no implementation section and there’ll be no free trade settlement until all these issues are resolved. I hope the new U.K. The EU’s “working assumption” is that the U.K. Oct. 31 and it “should occur in an orderly way,” European Commission spokeswoman Mina Andreeva stated in response to Johnson’s statement to Parliament. The bloc is continuing its preparations for a no-deal Brexit, Andreeva mentioned. While splitting with out an agreement would cause critical disruption and have huge financial penalties, they can be “proportionately a lot greater for the U.K.,” she advised reporters.

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The Commission “takes note” of Johnson’s choice to not nominate a Commissioner, Andreeva mentioned, and pointed out that below EU law “the Commission is composed of 1 Commissioner from every member state.” As long because the U.K. “it has all of the rights and all the obligations of a member state,” she stated. “The satan is in the element,” Costa instructed the BBC.

The current program, he said, “is not a guarantee — it’s not been enshrined in regulation.” Costa orchestrated a Tory rebellion resulting in a parliamentary defeat for May over the difficulty earlier this 12 months. Boris Johnson hopes the EU will rethink its refusal to renegotiate the withdrawal agreement, his spokesman James Slack advised reporters in London. Johnson, who spoke with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Thursday, shall be approaching talks with the bloc with “energy and enthusiasm” and can act because the U.K.’s chief negotiator, Slack mentioned. Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay can be counterpart to the EU’s lead negotiator Michel Barnier in talks. Johnson will launch a publicity marketing campaign to increase consciousness of the necessity for No-Deal preparations.

Johnson dominated-out a second referendum, saying that holding one other on Brexit would open up the potential for another in Scotland, which might lead to the break up of the United Kingdom. “How may we not have another referendum in Scotland if now we have one on Brexit? Asked by Tory defector Anna Soubry whether or not he’d enable Parliament to have a say on the subsequent steps if he fails to safe a brand new deal on Brexit, Johnson refused to supply the yes or no answer she requested. “This parliament has already voted a number of instances to honor the mandate of the folks to come out of the EU, and that’s what we should do.,” Johnson said.